Exploring Changes in Gang Involvement and Associated Risk Factors for American Indian Adolescents in Reservation Communities

Reservation communities are among emerging communities for gang activity, in which reports of a rise in youth and/or criminal gangs began occurring after the 1980s. Gang membership has been found to pose a public health risk, strain community resources, and risk a number of individual negative life outcomes. Perceived increases in reservation gang activity have been observed by law-enforcement and community stakeholders, but comparatively little empirical research has focused specifically on these communities. Utilizing data from an existing public dataset, analysis of variance and regression analysis were utilized to examine cross sectional trends in gang involvement among 14,457 American Indian adolescents in reservation communities between 1993-2013. Results of this study failed to establish a consistent pattern of either growth or decline in gang membership across time when examining all reservations communities, with data suggesting that consistent trends may exist only within specific communities. Gang members were found to endorse significantly more alcohol and marijuana use, anger, depressed mood, and victimization as a whole. Only alcohol and marijuana use, violent behavior, and depressed mood demonstrated a significant interaction with time and gang membership. Finally, self-reported substance use, criminal behavior/delinquency, and violence perpetration significantly increased as gang affiliation increased.